Gunsight



= GM 33"261 [)R 3,200, SR

1965 J. E. KINGSTON 3,200,499

GUNSIGHT Filed Aug. 8, 1961 Fig.

James E. K/hgs/on INVENTOR.

BY Q4.

United States Patent 3,200,499 GUNSIGHT James E. Kingston, Rte. 1, Arlington, Wash. Filed Aug. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 130,185 3 Claims. (Cl. 33-51) The present invention generally relates to a sight for a gun primarily intended for use on shotguns and having for its primary purpose to compensate for various factors in shooting birds or other moving objects in that the sight automatically adjusts the lead between the speed of the target and the shotgun blasts travel time to the airborne target.

There have been previous attempts to provide a more effective gunsight but such devices have employed various adjustments for each range, speed and difference of target and on installations on shotguns, there has been a universal absence of a rear stationary sighting point. This requires that the person using the gun still interpret the movement of the target and the particular setting of the sight on the shotgun which mental calculations quite often are incorrect. Also, various persons set their eye at a different point in relation to the stock of the gun thus introducing further error in the sighting of a shotgun when there is only a single sight at the outer end of the barrel even though such sight may have adjustable arms or the like allegedly to compensate for variables encountered in shooting a gun at a moving target. Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a sight for a shotgun which will automatically adjust the lead to equal the distance the target will travel in the time it takes the shotgun blast to travel from the gun to the target. Also, in the present invention, the speed of the target makes no difference since the person using the gun follows the object in the sight and thus the gun is going the same speed as the target. The distance the target will travel while the shot is in flight is always within the pattern and the shot string of the gun.

Essentially, the present invention incorporates on a shotgun the provision of a rear stationary bead and a pair of forward beads thus providing an exact location for determining and locating an exact axis for the gun barrel which will automatically position the gun in proper position if the sight is aimed properly by the person shooting since it is only necessary to line up the rear and forward bead in line with the target.

A very important object of the present invention is to provide a gunsight which is simple in construction, easy to use, easy to attach, highly effective for its particular purposes and generally inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic plan view with the two front beads in the trap or normal plinking setting;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic plan view similar to FIG- URE l but with the beads in a hunting or pass setting;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is an end view illustrating the rear head in alignment with one of the forward beads;

FIGURE 5 is an end view similar to FIGURE 4 but illustrating the rear bead in alignment with another of the front beads;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the gunsight illustrating the beads in the hunting or pass setting;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the target illustrating the beads in a trap or normal plinking setting;

FIGURE 8 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 88 of FIGURE 6 illustrating the attachment of the rear bead to the target plate;

FIGURE 9 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 99 illustrating the manner of mounting of the forward pair of beads; and

FIGURE 10 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 1010 of FIGURE 7 illustrating the manner in which the Sight base plate is attached to the shotgun.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the gunsight of the present invention which includes a mounting plate 12 of elon gated rectangular configuration and provided with bevelled end edges 14. The target plate 12 is mounted on top of a shotgun 16 at a convenient position on the gun receiver immediately forward of the stock with the iongitudinal center line of the plate 12 being aligned with the center of the bore of the barrel of the gun. The plate 12 may be mounted flat on the gun 16 or a tapered shim 18 may be provided and in either event, a pair of mounting screws 20 are employed which are threaded directly into the gun receiver 16 land the head 22 thereof is received within a counterbore 24 whereby the screw head 22 will not project above the top surface of the sight base plate 12.

Mounted adjacent the rear of the plate 12 is a rear stationary sighting head 26 having a depending thread shank 28 screw threadedly engaging an internally threaded bore 30. Adjacent the forward end of the plate 12 is a pair of internally threaded apertures 32 and adjacent the mid-point of the plate 12 is a similar pair of internally threaded apertures 34 for removably receiving a pair of beads 36 and 38 each having a threaded shank 40 engaging the selective threaded apertures 32 or 34 depending upon whether the sight is set for trap shooting when the beads 36 and 38 are in the forward apertures 32 or for hunting when the beads 36 and 38 are in the centrally disposed apertures 34.

When using the shim, the device will be used for trap shooting at either a station sixteen yards behind the trap projector or twenty-six yards behind the trap projector. Thus, with the shim, the sight of the present invention will not only calculate horizontal lead correctly regardless of range and target speed but also by using the vertical shim the sight will compute vertical leads at every range and speed.

In employing the sight, the rear bead preferably is one color such as silver while the front beads are of gold although other distinguishing colors could be employed. When using the device without lead, all the beads are orientated with an equal height and with the rear silver bead in the center of the gold front beads and the device is employed in the same manner as a rifle and as illustrated in FIGURE 3.

To shoot at a target coming from the right, it is only necessary to line up the right front bead 38 with the rear head 26. When the target is approaching from the left use the front bead 36 and the rear bead 26. There is no necessity of giving any concern to range or other factors. The stationary rear bead makes it impossible to have the wrong lead regardless of where the sight is mounted on the gun or where the shooters eye is since one must always line the front and rear beads up and thus the angle will always be the same. Thus, as long as the sight is mounted parallel with the bore of the gun, the plane will be exact and no shooting over or under the target will happen as long as the beads are aligned and aligned with the target. The lead is always equal to the distance the target will go in the time the shot travels from the gun to the target and one follows the target or bird in the sight and thus the lead is always right. This is why at 50 yards we have a circle of shot from a shotgun that is 36 inches in diameter. This circle of shot is known as the pattern of a shotgun. We know also that the average shotgun shell will take .085 second before the first pellets from this shell will reach a target 50 yards away. To use this sight, we line the beads of the sight up on the target, and follow the target in the sight while we fire the shell; thus the gun is moving at the same speed as the target. Now the only thing the sight must lead for is the distance the target will travel in the time it takes the shot to pass out of the gun and reach the point where the target is. Now we can show you the required leads and why no adjustment is needed with the sight even though the target speed may not always be the same. We will use 50 yard example because everything is proportional to 50 yards as range decreases (50 yards being the maximum effective range of shotgun). This is why range difference makes no difference to this newly invented sight.

Speed of target: Lead needed at 50 yards 90 feet per second 7 feet 6 inches 80 feet per second 6 feet 8 inches 70 feet per second feet 10 inches 60 feet per second 5 feet 1 inch 50 feet per second 4 feet 3 inches 40 feet per second 3 feet 4 inches feet per second 2 feet 9 inches Note that when we adjust the sight to put the center of the pattern at 6 feet 6 inches we will with the pattern hit all targets from 4 feet 10 inches up to 8 feet. Therefore the 36 inch pattern would hit all targets between 90 and 58 feet per second. The shot string follows the initial pattern and because of velocity drop off the shot string is strung out for about second in length and is still 36 inches in diameter. The slower targets will fly into this shot string as it is passing. This is why very few shots are ever missed by a man leading a target too far with a shotgun. This is also why we do not have to adjust this invention to kill these targets traveling at 50, 40 and slower feet per second. Most hunting shots are in the speeds between 80 and feet per second, and are well within the hunting setting of the sight (FIGURE 2). For plinking such as tin cans thrown into the air and so forth, we very seldom have a target speed of over 25 feet per second. We use the front bead setting to increase the effects of the pattern and shot string on these slower targets (setting as in FIGURE 1). The same is true on the trap range because the shots are almost straight away from shooter and would be treated as such while hunting. The most lead that can be used on a trap range is 5 feet and this is from a range that is only used by the best and expert shooters. These are the shooter 1 and 5 positions to target positions 5 and 1, with breaking of target at 46 yards. This shot could happen to a hunter but please note that the hunting position on the sight will kill a shot like this. However this shot will also be killed within the pattern of the trap setting of the sight as will all other slower effect trap shots.

The vertical lead shim will not be used for hunting purposes since all shots in hunting situations usually need only horizontal leads as the sight will provide without the shim. Additionally, any hunting shots Where vertical lead is desirable will be taken care of by the size of the shot pattern. One example of hunting shots in which the shim may be useful is where jump shooting is required such as hunting pheasants or the like where the target jumps from the ground near the feet of the shooter and fiy upwardly substantially as fast as they are flying in a direction away m e g When the beads are in the hunting or pass position, or in the trap or normal position, the position of the shooter in relation to the target changes the amount of lead you must have.

This sight as we have explained takes care of these changes in lead with no adjustments at all by the shooter. He need not know anything except to keep the beads lined up on a target. The sight does the thinking.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operating shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A gunsight comprising a single elongated mounting plate adapted to be mounted on the top surface of a shotgun with the center line thereof in alignment with the center of the bore of the shotgun barrel, 3. single bead mounted on and adjacent the rear of the mounting plate, a pair of laterally spaced beads mounted on the plate equidistant from the center line and in longitudinally spaced relation to the single bead whereby the sight will automatically adjust the gun for lead when the rear bead is aligned with one of the beads spaced therefrom, a first pair of laterally spaced interally threaded holes, said pair of beads being removably mounted within the first pair of laterally spaced internally threaded holes, a second pair of laterally spaced internally threaded holes positioned between the first pair of holes and the single rear bead, said pair of beads being selectively positioned in either the first pair of holes or the second pair of holes, said first pair of holes being spaced from the single bead a distance contemplated to insure maximum efiiciency for normal hunting, said second pair of holes being spaced from the single bead a distance contemplated to insure maximum efficiency for trap shootmg.

2. The structure of claim 1 together with an elongated tapered shim of substantially the same width and length as the mounting plate underlying the plate with the thicker portion of the shim underlying the rear of the plate for raising the rear and providing vertical lead.

3. A gunsight comprising a single elongated mounting plate adapted to be mounted on the top surface of a shotgun with the center line thereof in alignment with the center of the bore of the shotgun barrel, a single bead mounted on and adjacent the rear of the mounting plate, a pair of laterally spaced beads mounted on the plate equidstant from the center line and in longitudinally spaced relation to the single head whereby the sight will automatically adjust the gun for lead when the rear bead is aligned with one of the beads spaced therefrom, and together with an elongated tapered shim of substantially the same width and length as the mounting plate underlying the plate with the thicker portion of the shim underlying the rear of the plate for raising the rear and providing vertical lead.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 891,063 6/08 Harris 33-51 1,004,241 9/11 Chadwick 3358.5 1,852,875 4/32 Endrczzc 33-52 3,005,263 10/61 Lockwood 33-47 FOREIGN PATENTS 125,052 1922 Great Britain.

ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT B. HULL, Examiner. 

1. A GUNSIGHT COMPRISINGA SINGLE ELONGATED MOUNTING PLATE ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON THE TOP SURFACE OF A SHOTGUN WITH THE CENTER LINE THEREOF IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE CENTER OF THE BORE OF THE SHOTGUN BARREL, A SINGLE BEAD MOUNTED ON AND ADJACENT THE REAR OF THE MOUNTING PLATE, A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED BEADS MOUNTED ON THE PLATE EQUIDISTANT FROM THE CENTER LINE AND IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACED RELATION TO THE SINGLE BEAD WHEREBY THE SIGHT WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST THE GUN FOR LAEAD WHEN THE REAR BEAD IS ALIGNED WITH ONE OF THE BEADS SPACED THEREFROM, A FIRST PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED INTERALLY THREADED HOLES, SAID PAIR OF BEADS BEING REMOVABLY MOUNTED WITHIN THE FIRST PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED INTERNALLY THREADED HOLES, A SECOND PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED INTERNALLY THREADED HOLES POSITIONED BETWEEN THE FIRST PAIR HOLES AND THE SINGLE REAR BEAD, SAID PAI OF BEADS BEING SELECTIVELY POSITIONED IN EITHER THE FIRST PAIR OF HOLES OR THE SECOND PAIR OF HOLES, SAID FIRST PAIR OF HOLES BEING SPACED FROM THE SINGLE BEAD A DISTANCE CONTEMPLATED TO INSURE MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY FOR NORMAL HUNTING, SAID SECOND PAIR OF HOLES BEING SPACED FROM THE SINGLE BEAD A DISTANCE CONTEMPLATED TO INSURE MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY FOR TRAP SHOOTING. 